THIS WEEK: Ninth-ranked Arizona (39-9, 12-6 Pac-12) takes its final regular season road trip this season as it heads to the Pacific Northwest to take on 11th-ranked Washington (28-12, 8-8 Pac-12) in a three game series at Husky Softball Stadium. The Wildcats look to improve on a 3-6 road conference record while the Huskies are just 3-4 at home this season. Arizona and Washington play Friday (7:00 p.m.), Saturday (7:00 p.m.) and Sunday (12:00 p.m.). All games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

LEADING OFF

- Arizona is at or near the top of nearly every offensive ranking in the NCAA. Arizona leads the nation in batting average (.365), home runs (92), scoring (8.08 runs per game) and slugging percentage (.663). Arizona’s on-base percentage (.452) ranks second while its 1.6 doubles per game rank 14th. Arizona’s .663 slugging percentage is on pace to set a new NCAA record.

- UA is getting done on the other side of the ball as well. Arizona’s 2.38 ERA ranks 42nd nationally while its .977 fielding percentage is seventh in the country.

- Catcher Chelsea Goodacre is tied for second in the NCAA with 20 home runs. Freshman outfielder Katiyana Mauga is tied for sixth nationally with 18 homers. Goodacre has 67 RBI, fourth in the country while Kellie Fox’s 57 RBI are 13th in the nation.

- Arizona has the best home record in the country at 27-0, including 18 run-rule victories. Arizona is outscoring opponents by an average of 10.22 - 1.96 at home. On the road (neutral plus away games), Arizona is 12-9 with just three mercy wins. On the road, Arizona’s average margin of victory is just 2.19 runs, compared to the 8.24 run average margin of victory at home. Arizona is hitting .441 at home while batting just .274 on the road.

- Arizona has hit six grand slams in its last 19 games: Katiyana Mauga vs. UNLV (game 2), Hallie Wilson vs. Oregon State (game 1), Chelsea Goodacre vs. Oregon State (game 3), Katiyana Mauga vs. Stanford (game 1), Mo Mercado vs. Stanford (game 1) and Hallie Wilson vs. New Mexico State (game 1). The six grand slams in the 19-game span betters Arizona’s entire 59-game total from 2013, when UA hit two grand slams. On the season, Arizona has hit 10 grand slams. Mauga has hit four grand slams this season, third most ground slams in a season in NCAA history, while Wilson has hit three, seventh most in NCAA history.

- From Feb. 22 to March 4, Arizona run-ruled eight consecutive opponents, setting a school record. The previous record was six straight mercy wins, accomplished thrice (2003, 2001 and 1994). The Cats have run-ruled 21 opponents on the season in just 45 chances after run-ruling eight opponents in 59 games in 2013.

- Katiyana Mauga became the first freshman to sweep national weekly awards when she was named USA Softball and NFCA National Player of the Week for her performance against Stanford. Mauga was 5-for-8 with four home runs and 11 RBI, which included a walkoff homer in the series finale.

- Arizona has had three players named Pac-12 Player of the Week this season - Kelsey Rodriguez (week 4), Hallie Wilson (week 5) and Wilson (week 12). Most recently, Wilson hit five home runs, batted .533 and drove in nine runs, helping lead Arizona to a perfect 5-0 week with sweeps of New Mexico State and Utah.

- In 48 games this year, Arizona has tossed 12 shutouts, and has allowed just one run 11 times. In 59 games in 2013, UA allowed one run or fewer seven total times, including three shutouts. UA pitchers have thrown six one-hitters this season and one no-hitter (Estela Piñon and Kenzie Fowler, Feb. 9 vs. Southern Miss).

- Arizona’s .365 average would be the best in Arizona history since 1998 (.385) while its 2.38 ERA would be the best since the 2010 team’s 2.19 ERA. Also, the Wildcats’ .977 fielding percentage would be tied for fourth best in school history.

- On the season, Arizona has 176 extra-base hits. Its opponents have 208 total hits.

- Opponents are just 7-for-51 (.137) batting with the bases loaded. Meanwhile, Arizona is 26-for-72 (.361) with the bases loaded, including the aforementioned 10 grand slams.

ARIZONA AGAINST WASHINGTON: The Wildcats have defeated the Huskies in 61 of the 87 all-time games between the squads, but dropped the series in Tucson last season, two games to one . However, Arizona won each of previous two series and has won six of the last 10 meetings.

OPPONENT

Washington: The Huskies (28-12, 8-8 Pac-12) enter the weekend winners of four straight, including a sweep of Oregon State last weekend. Washington boasts one of the conference’s best pitching staffs, holding a team ERA of 2.00, led by Bryana Walker (15-7, 1.71 ERA, 125 Ks, 118.2 IP) and Kaitlin Inglesby (11-4, 2.04 ERA, 91 Ks, 113.1 IP). Offensively, the team is outscoring opponents 245-88. Victoria Hayward (.444 avg, 8 2B, 1 HR, 20 RBI, 24 SB) and Kylee Lahners (.358 avg, 8 2B, 14 HR, 49 RBI) lead the club on that side of the ball.

HEAD COACH MIKE CANDREA: Arizona head coach Mike Candrea is in his 29th year at the helm of the Arizona softball program with a career record of 1,382-331-2 (.806). A winner of eight national championships (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2007), Arizona has made 22 trips to the Women’s College World Series under his guidance, missing just four times in the last 26 years (2004, 2011, 2012, 2013). In 2012, Candrea became the sport’s fastest ever, and second all-time, to reach 1,300 wins. Under Candrea, Arizona has a spectacular postseason record of 152-47. An even 50 All-Americans with a staggering 90 total citations have played in the program since Candrea took over.

THE RANKINGS: Arizona moved up one spot to ninth in the USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Poll and eighth in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25. UA began the season unranked, marking the first time since the NFCA began publishing polls in the early 90s that Arizona was unranked in the preseason poll.

RECENT RESULTS: Arizona hit 22 home runs in five games, helping the Cats to a perfect 5-0 record while sweeping a doubleheader with New Mexico State and a three-game series with Utah. Hallie Wilson was named Pac-12 Player of the Week for her five-homer, nine RBI performance. Estela Piñon did not allow an earned run in 17 innings on the week.

4/23/14 - Long Ball Leads Cats to Doubleheader Sweep: Arizona softball hit nine home runs in two games, three off the bat of Courtney Rodriguez, to sweep a doubleheader against New Mexico State at Hillenbrand Stadium Wednesday night, 13-3 (5 innings) in game one and 13-7 in the nightcap.

Sophomore outfielder Courtney Rodriguez did not have a home run and had hit just nine extra base hits in her 163 career at-bats entering the game. The Scottsdale, Ariz., native hit three home runs in the doubleheader, one of four Wildcats to register multi-homer nights. Hallie Wilson, Chelsea Goodacre and Lauren Young all homered twice.

4/25/14 - Cats One-Hit Utes, Take Series-Opener: Seniors Estela Piñon and Kenzie Fowler combined to allow just one Utah hit while receiving seven runs of support in Arizona’s series-opening 7-1 victory over the Utes Friday night at Hillenbrand Stadium.

Piñon was brilliant in her six innings of work, allowing just one hit, a two-out single in the fourth, and striking out five and walking seven in the process. Her one run surrendered was unearned. The Tucson native improved to 14-5 on the year with the victory. Fowler struck out two of the three batters she faced in the seventh.

4/26/14 - Cats Power Past Utah in Record-Breaking Fashion: The Arizona softball team put its power on full display Saturday night at Hillenbrand Stadium, hitting a school record eight round-trippers, helping the Wildcats homer their way past Utah 11-7, to ensure a series victory over the Utes.

Only three other teams in NCAA history have hit more than Arizona’s eight homers in a single game.

4/27/14 - No. 10 Arizona Sweeps Utah with 8-3 Victory: With six and a third scoreless innings of relief from Estela Piñon and four home runs to back her up, Arizona defeated Utah 8-3 on Sunday to sweep the series with the Utes.

A day after Arizona (39-9, 12-6 Pac-12) set the school record with eight homers in a game, the power was back on display Sunday at Hillenbrand Stadium. The Wildcats hit four homers Sunday, bringing their NCAA-leading total to 92 long balls.

RECENT RESULTS AGAINST WASHINGTON: The Cats dropped the series to the Huskies in Tucson last season. Washington took game one 7-1 before Arizona evened the series with a 7-4 victory. Washington won the rubber match 8-3.

3/23/13 - Wildcats Fall to Huskies to Open Pac-12 Play: Sixteenth-ranked Arizona softball (20-9) was defeated by 17th-ranked Washington, 7-1 to open Pac-12 play on Saturday.

The Wildcats managed eight hits in the contest, four of which went for extra bases, but were able to score just once against Washington pitchers Kaitlin Inglesby and Bryana Walker. UA stranded nine runners on base.

3/24/13 - UA Evens Series with 7-4 Victory : Sixteenth-ranked Arizona softball bashed its way past 17th-ranked Washington with seven runs on 10 hits. The Cats downed the Huskies 7-4 to even the series at one game apiece.

The Wildcats entered the day 0-6 against ranked opponents and scored a total of five runs in those six contests. The Cats bucked that trend with its seven run offensive outburst on Sunday.

3/24/13 - Arizona Drops Series with 8-3 Defeat: Sixteenth-ranked Arizona softball (21-10) tallied nine hits but only scored thrice against 17th-ranked Washington (24-8), which took the series with its 8-3 victory in front of 2,001 fans at Hillenbrand Stadium on Monday.

UA left the bases loaded on two occasions and stranded nine total runners in the game, pushing the total to 24 for the series.